When the new squadron numbering
system was introduced in July 1939 all of the 21 U.S. Navy Patrol Squadrons were
renumbered. Patrol Squadron 4 (VP-4) thus
became Patrol Squadron 22 (VP-22), identifying it as number two Squadron under
Patrol Wing Two.

VP-4 was flying PBY-3's
when its designation changed to VP-22. During
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, VP-22 was based
on Ford Island. Seven of their aircraft were destroyed and others damaged.

After the attack on Pearl
Harbor VP-22 received twelve PBY-5's and moved to the Philippines in January
1942. They were assigned to Patrol Wing
Ten where they were involved in the defence of the Dutch East Indies (now
Indonesia) together with VP-101 and VP-102.Three
of the four Patrol Squadrons in Patwing 10 were decommissioned due to heavy
losses. The remaining aircraft and equipment and personnel were absorbed into
VP-101. This included VP-22 which had run out of aircraft by 3 March 1942. They
relocated to Perth, in Western Australia.

Lieutenant Thomas Moorer was assigned to VP-22
flying the Consolidated PBY Catalina out of Ford Island, Pearl Harbor. On 7
December 1941, he was one of the first pilots to take off in his PBY.

Moorer's PBY-5 Catalina (#18, BuNo. 2306 -
ex-22-P-4) was shot down north of Darwin near Bathurst Island, on 19
February 1942 during a Japanese bombing raid. He was unfortunate to be the
first victim of the large Japanese force. His Catalina was attacked by nine
Japanese "O" Type fighters near the northern tip of Bathurst Island. Lt.
Thomas Moorer was forced to crash land the Catalina into the sea. The crew,
including 4 wounded men, were then rescued by the freighter Don Isidro, which
was later attacked and beached near Bathurst Island. He was rescued by the RAAF
four days later. Moorer was one of the wounded and received a Purple Heart.

VP-22 was decommissioned on 18
April 1942. LCDR Frank O'Beirne was the Commanding Officer of VP-22 at that
time. Lt. Doyle Donaho was the Executive Officer and Lt. Thomas Moorer the
Flight Officer.

Lt. Moorer returned to the US
in mid 1942. He went on to retire as U.S. Navy Admiral Thomas Moorer. He was
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from July 1970 to June 1974 and Chief of
Naval Operations from 1967 to 1970. He died on 25 February 2004 at the National
Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD aged 91 years.